Diary of a Parish Priest

Construction Documents for the Bishop's Signature

A few documents related to the new construction are being finalized and will be sent to Trenton for Bishop O'Connell's approval.

• The architect's final contract
• A sight triangle easement required by the Borough for the handicapped access sign for the driveway into the handicapped accessible parking lot
• The construction bridge loan agreement
• The performance bond required by the Borough

Interviews with Construction Managers and preliminary bid proposals are schedule for the first week in June. The schedule for groundbreaking is under discussion. When we have the commitment in writing, we'll let everyone know!

 

 

Additional Schematic Diagrams for Renovated Church

The Church Plan Photo Album is back online. Check the photos of the plans and the new schematics.

 

Main Floor Plan of Holy Cross Church

This view shows the arrangement of pews and the main configuration of the ground level. 

 

 

Lower Level: Meeting Room, Rest Rooms, Mechanical/Electrical and Storage

 

 

Upper levels showing Choir Loft and the upper Sacristy Storage Space

 

 

A cross section of the renovated Church.

 

A Time To Build

"A Time to Build" Campaign

Our campaign fundraiser, CCS, submitted its final report last week at a meeting with Campaign Volunteers and parish staff. The in-pew appeals were very successful. A clear and orderly plan was outlined to ensure that our volunteers and staff bring the campaign to a successful conclusion, now that we will be on our own.

Fr. Manning and other volunteers are still reaching out to potential donors, and there are some parishioners who have not yet indicated whether or not they will donate. There is much work to be done to document memorial pledges and acknowledge each contribution made. Thank you to all who pledged!

Memorial Wall in the Gymatorium

You may notice that some of the plaques from the Memorial Wall in the Gymatorium for "Lift High the Cross" have been removed for their engraving with the final list of parishioners who completed their pledges for "Lift High." The completed Memorial Wall should be re-assembled within a few weeks.

Church Renovation and Expansion Project

We have begun the next phase in the selection of a Construction Manager for the Church project, working closely with our architect and recommendations from the Diocesan Building Commission.

The contractors received a Request for Proposal document (RFP), which includes a non-binding preliminary cost estimate, among other demonstrations of the company’s ability to accurately build, budget, and schedule our project. The contractors also received schematic design drawings, demolition plans, and a detailed drawing of the building’s proposed construction.

We asked the contractors to submit the proposals no later than June 4, and to prepare for interviews during the week of June 11.

 

Successful In-Pew Capital Campaign

Thank you so much to our speakers on behalf of the Capital Campaign for the last two weekends and to all our ushers and those who helped with the logistics. We received $ 492,000 in pledges from 103 families. This total places us very near our goal, indeed...all before we break ground!

Thank you to all our parish families who have pledged a financial contribution

toward our renovation and expansion campaign.

 

Church Renovation and Expansion Project Update

• Drilling for soil samples on construction site completed
• Requests for Qualification (RFQ) received from four contractors; over the next week, three will be chosen for continued consideration
• Architect in design development phase of project; mechanical and electrical engineers will begin working with drawings next week
• Capital Campaign nears its goal. Our second Commitment Weekend begins tomorrow at all the masses.
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Drilling Samples for Construction

Today's soil sample drilling went smoothly. Two more cores need to be taken tomorrow. What did they find? Lots of sand and water!

 

Soil Sample Drilling on Tuesday and Wednesday

This Tuesday and Wednesday, six soil sample cores will be drilled around the church in order to help our engineer and contractor adequately prepare for the church construction project. The company plans to obtain core samples up to 40 feet deep. There might be a bit of noise, and the children will be restricted from the parish field when the company's drilling equipment is operational.

Capital Campaign Commitment Weekends At Holy Cross

This weekend and next, all those parishioners who have not yet made a pledge to the capital campaign, "A Time To Build" will be asked to make a financial commitment to this very important parish effort. Parishioners will help all members of the congregation complete and return pledge cards during the homily.

It is crucial that each family or member of Holy Cross contribute what they can for the support of this endeavor. The benefits of a renovated and expanded church will be enjoyed now and many years into the future.

Please make a generous pledge according to your means and pray for the success of our church project.

 

 

A Time to Build Campaign

 

 

 

"...A Time To Build" campaign continues to make progress toward our fund raising goal. Thank you to those volunteers who have been making phone calls to parishioners before, during and after our phone-a-thons. Our speakers at the masses this weekend did another excellent job. We are close to finalizing the in-pew campaign with Committment Sundays, during which time all those at mass will be asked to help realize the dream of our renovated and reconstructed church.

 

Items From Holy Cross Church For Purchase, Adoption and Recycling

One of the agenda items we will discuss during Wednesday night's meeting of the Church Building and Planning Committee will be the disposition of those items from the present church we will retain for use in the renovated church and those which will be sold, recycled or otherwise disposed of. Our architect has asked us to begin such a list.

One of the things we will do shortly is begin removing some of the memorial placques so that the information can be archived, catalogued and cleaned for either reinstallation in the renovated church or fabrication into new memorial placques. 

There are companies which take the contents of churches on consignment, but there have already been a few inquires from parishioners about our pews. The patterned windows on the side walls will not be reused and are also available. 

We will keep everyone posted on information as we get closer to preparing the church for its renovation. 

A Time To Build

Our first phone-a-thon was a great way to spread the message that the schematic plans for our expanded and renovated church have been approved by both our diocese and the Borough.

With a donation of time to participate in several more phone-a-thons, and a donation of a pledge to the campaign, we will be able to achieve our dream of a traditional, prayerful and sacred space large enough for the needs of our parish family, to provide access to parishioners in wheelchairs and hospitality for parishioners and guests alike.

 

One Ringy Dingy...Capital Campaign Phone-a-thon

 

Tomorrow night is one of first of several Phonathon nights for A Time to Build campaign. Fellow parishioners will be calling to spread the good news of our approvals for the church renovation and expansion, to answer any questions you may have and to enlist both financial and volunteer support.

There are several more evenings of calling scheduled - we hope to contact each one of our registered parishioner families before the campaign ends in a few weeks. If you can help us one or more evenings by making some phone calls, please let us know. The more callers we have, the more parish families we will be able to contact.

 

Gifts to Previous Capital Campaigns

Just a reminder about something we've been noting for years: if you pledged and completed a capital campaign donation to either the first parish capital campaign in 2003-4, or to Lift High the Cross, thank you very much. Your generosity enables us to make the goal for our final campaign A Time To Build within our grasp. We have a record of your donation and memorial, if  you chose one, and will happily acknolwedge your gift in a dignified manner in the renovated and expanded church. Call MaryRose from our parish staff, or Terence Curley from CCS, our on-site manager for A Time To Build for details about your previous donation/pledge.

Please consider a donation to A Time To Build - the final phase of our parish building project so long in the making. The campaigns were divided so as to divide the total capital needed into smaller, achievable goals.

 

 

Architect and Engineer at Holy Cross This Week

Fresh on the heels of the recommendation of Rumson's special board to approve the amendment to our site plan, our architect James McCrery and an engineer will visit Holy Cross this week to conduct precise measurements and assess the church and the site. 

In the coming weeks, the schematic diagrams you have seen at our masses and available on the webpage will be developed in more detail sufficient to enable contractors to estimate the total cost of the project and its particular components. 

All Masses are in the Gymatorium This Weekend Feb 11-12

Join us this weekend for masses in the gymatorium. Nourished and strenghtened by Jesus' presence, indeed His very Body and Blood, we can give thanks to God for having brought our parish family to the threshold of the wonderful expansion and renovation of our beloved and historic church.

A full set of architectural drawings will be available for inspection, as well as an audiovisual presentation of the drawings. Fr. Manning will highilght the summary of the project during the homily, and remain after all the masses for a more complete presentation and to answer everyone's questions. 

A full timeline of the project's history will be available for review and posted online when we've compiled the listing - it's long! Much of the work to nurture the project has been behind the scenes, in committees and by deliberate, careful steps which required prayer, persistence, faith and patience. Now we need everyone's enthusiasm and participation!

Only the dimensions of the renovated church building and the arrangment of the driveways and parking have been decided! Its interior look and spirit are open for research and discussion. Our liturgy and planning committee has been meeting with architects, liturgical designers and holding meetings over the past six or seven years; some members have come and gone as the process took longer than anticipated at some points, but we will now resume the serious work of subcommittees to discuss and help plan the church's interior appointments. Please get involved!

The final phase of our campus construction project has been entitled "A Time To Build." It is inspired by the bible verse from Ecclesiastes 3:3 and refers not so much to a convenient political, economic or even practical time, but to God's time. The bible speaks about the "fullness of time," a ripeness which comes through the grace of God. The time is ripe, it is our "Time to Build."

A new parish history wall is scheduled for completion by the weekend. Located in the entryway of the gymatorium, it will be a permanent and beautiful display of significant moments in the history of Holy Cross Church.

If you can't join us in person this weekend, join us in prayer!